MediaTek Bluetooth Adapter Appears Unplugged - HP Victus 15-fb1xxx

[bthomason]

I have a brand new HP Victus 15-fb1013dx (15-fb1xxx series) that I got from Best Buy recently. It's running Windows 11 23H2. I bought my wife one as well (on the same day), and we are both experiencing the same issue: Bluetooth connection will last for some amount of time (which varies wildly), but will inevitably drop out completely. When this happens, it requires a reboot to get the adapter to show back up. It completely hides itself in Device Manager, appearing as though it is unplugged. The "Bluetooth and Devices" page shows the "Add Device" button and even has the Bluetooth slider in the On position (at first). When I try to add a BT device, though, it realizes that there's an issue and slides back to the Off position or disappears entirely.

I do not have any problems with the WiFi, which I think is on the same piece of hardware (the wireless adapter). I have updated drivers so many times that nothing newer/better is recommended by Windows Update or HP. I've tried installing them manually from the HP drivers and support page (link here) as well - separate from any Windows Update or HP Support application updates and it's still not working. I tried to go to MediaTek's website to find drivers there, but can't find their product page for this adapter. I can't seem to reproduce the issue on command - I just know that if I leave my PC on for long enough (using it, while it's sleeping, just sitting there powered on, etc.), it will act up eventually - it's been doing that every day since we purchased the laptops on Thursday last week.

I am just about done trying and ready to return the laptops, but I want to make one last effort using this forum. We were really looking forward to using these, so we hate to return them at this point in time. I also hate to buy a new wireless adapter for my new PC, though I think that would probably fix the problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

[BeemerBiker]

I do not know where to get the latest MediaTek driver.  I will look for them but it may take a while. In the meantime configure the power plan of that Bluetooth device so it does not turn off to save electricity.

Prevent the Bluetooth device from sleeping. You will have to find where it in the device manager and change the Power Management.

Look in Human Interface Devices and uncheck the power saver

If not there then try under Bluetooth

You might want to read this article by our expert @Paul_Tikkanen  

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/RT3290-Ralink-Mediatek-Bluetooth-Driver/td...

MediaTek took over Ralinik and it seems that there are no good win10 or 11 drivers available.  You might consider upgrading to a newer WiFi/Bluetooth adapter, maybe one that does 6ghz, not just 2.4 or 5ghz.  I would not have thought that a new laptop would have Ralink or MediaTek.

Use the drivers that Paul listed.  Also the article I quoted above was dated 2018 which I did not notice.  Mediatek has improved since then.

[bthomason]

Good call, BeemerBiker - I just disabled the power saving. Let's hope that was it! Before I did 100 firmware updates (okay - that's a slight exaggeration), I was experiencing disconnects while using the device (in the middle of playing a game, my Bluetooth controller lost connection and made my character keep walking to the left). I then tried to use my BT mouse, and it also wasn't working. This was the first indication of the problem. But since then, I've updated drivers and mostly notice disconnects after the PC has gone to sleep. Crossing my fingers that this is the fix! Thanks for the valuable contribution and the quick response!

Here's what that looked like on my exact PC (for those reading the forum later):

[Paul_Tikkanen]

@bthomason 

Here are the links to the latest W11 23H2 Mediatek Wi-Fi and Bluetooth drivers for the Wi-Fi adapter your notebook has:

Wi-Fi: Released on Jan16, 2024:  The installed actual driver date will be older.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp150501-151000/sp150933.exe

Bluetooth: Released on Nov 28, 2023

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp150001-150500/sp150375.exe 

[bthomason]

So unfortunately, this power management settings update did not fix the issue, but it was a good idea. Thanks again! I am now trying the driver sent by @Paul_Tikkan.

[bthomason]

Thank you, @Paul_Tikkanen! I am now trying to install this driver for a second time. The driver you linked is version 1.3.17.158 (showing date 8/23/2023, as shown below in the photo). I am a little confused with the install package - there's an executable that has the "run as administrator" shield icon, but it doesn't appear to do much when it's run. After installing it, I used it successfully (after a reboot) and then let it sit for a while. It timed out while powered on, then I came back to it a few hours later. My Bluetooth was disabled again & hidden in device manager - same as before. 

So since that initial install didn't seem to do much, I went to the location where it says it's going to put the files (C:\SWSetup\SP150375) where there's another executable and an "install.cmd" file. So just to be sure this time around, I ran each of those independently and then even went to "Add drivers" in Device manager and selected the files stored at "C:\SWSetup\SP150375\src\Drivers\MT7921". One of those 3 methods was bound to work, so I'm pretty confident that this latest version is installed (that and see the photo above).

I don't have a lot of confidence that this will work. So, at this point I'm debating just returning the laptops (mine and my wife's - both identical and having the same problem) to get different ones. Alternatively I could buy some new wireless adapters and install those. But I really feel that I shouldn't have to do that for a brand new device. This has been taking a lot of my time and I'm a little upset about it at this point. Can't even use my new PC for what I had intended due to all this troubleshooting and fiddling around I'm having to do. Quite disappointing.

[BeemerBiker]

If you return it, ask for an Intel WiFi/Bluetooth board

one other thing to try is to disable "power saving" for the WiFi card.  The MediaTek circuit board handles both Bluetooth and WiFi and possibly the bluetooth is turned off when the WiFi is turned off.  Uncheck the power feature on the WiFi card.

A second possibility which is unlikely but still possible.  

You probably have fast start enabled.  Fast Start uses the hibernate file.  If the  hibernate file had not been updated then it contains instructions that can cause the bluetooth to not wake up.  The hibernate file needs to be updated.  That is done by disabling fast start or by deleting the hibernate file as explained here

https://www.howtogeek.com/885071/how-to-disable-hibernation-and-remove-hiberfil-sys-in-windows-11/#:....

if the bluetooth starts working then re-enable fast start  and a new hibernate fill will be created.

I am sorry this is happening, you should not have to do any of this. 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

Yes, I agree that if you tried manually installing the driver from the unpacked driver folder you have the latest driver.

Since you have a notebook with an AMD processor, most Intel Wi-Fi adapters will not work.

Looks like HP only offered the Mediatek Wi-Fi adapters in the model series.

HP PartSurfer

The only Intel card I can think of that might work would be this one, and I cannot guarantee it will.

Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 ax 2×2 + Bluetooth 5.0 MU-MIMO M.2 2230 non-vPro   HP part # L35282-005.

My HP Envy notebook with an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor came with the above Intel card from the factory.

Below is the link to the service manual for the older model series (the only one available) which has the Wi-Fi adapter removal and replacement procedure.

Maintenance and Service Guide (hp.com)

[bthomason]

So far, this is doing the trick! I haven't had it disconnect on me just yet after disabling fast-start. Will monitor and update the thread, marking this as the solution if it holds up as working. Out of curiosity: will reenabling fast start bring the problem back, do you think? Or you think the fast start file was corrupted and needed to be recreated? (FYI - at this point, I have not reenabled fast start - just disabled it and left it that way for testing).

[BeemerBiker]

Re-enable fast start should be OK.  It will store off the current settings and will use them on startup.

There have been a number of problems reported when using fast start.  However, that BlueTooth chip should have woken up.

l am glad it is working but see if fast start actually makes a difference in speed and if not then don't bother with it.